Jeremy Lin continues to lose minutes to Courtney Lee in crunch time, Hornets nip Pacers on the road

Jeremy Lin is losing minutes at this point of the season. The Charlotte Hornets beat the Indiana Pacers, 96-95 on Friday night thanks to a Kemba Walker game-winner with 2 seconds to go in the game.

The Hornets avoided the collapse after the Pacers fought back in the final quarter and grabbed the lead late in the game.

Marvin Williams posted a double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds while Walker also had a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists.

Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 7 points but was just 3-of-8 from the field and played just 22 minutes.

Lin was averaging 26.9 minutes per game this season but his playing time appears to be affected in favor of veteran Courtney Lee, who was acquired by the Hornets in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies near the NBA trade deadline.

Jeremy Lin is still part of the rotation for the Hornets and one of the key guys off the bench but Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford appears to trust Lee more than Lin. Lee played 39 minutes for the Hornets in the win against the Pacers, the most for any Charlotte player for the night. Lee finished with 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting and 1-of-5 three pointers for the Hornets.

Lin also did not play in the final 7 minutes of the game against the Pacers, a sign that Clifford could trust Lee more at crunch time for the rest of the season.

With the road win against the Pacers, the Hornets improved to 30-27 for the season and still in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Will Jeremy Lin continue to lose minutes to Lee in the fourth quarter for the rest of the year? Is Clifford doing a good job in his rotation and decision to bench Lin in favor of Lee?